Spider-Island: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #2: OK, I'm not totally following everything happening in this title, because my only exposure to Iron Fist and Shang-Chi have been in the recent runs of "New Avengers" and "Secret Avengers." As such, I'm not really steeped in their lore, if you will, making it difficult at times to follow all the nuances of the plot. I'm not sure if the Bride of Nine Spiders or Ai Apaec are characters unique to this series or ones I'm supposed to recognize. I get that the Bride is more or less an innocent bystander, but I'm not entirely sure what Ai Apaec's motives are, other than possibly to eat Iron Fist. So far, this mini-series definitely isn't on the same level as the "Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger" mini-series, which has a similarly tangential relation to "Spider-Island" but at least a more compelling story. If you were wondering if you were justified in skipping this one, you were. But, it's not a terrible story, so I'll definitely be there to see how it ends.
Spider-Island: I (Spider) New York City #1: This issue gives us four different stories of New Yorkers who gain Spider-Powers. They're all pretty decent, if not great, stories, reflecting on the "with great power comes great responsibility" adage. A quiet theme of "Spider-Island" -- one that I expect we'll see more specifically mentioned in the epilogue, just like I expect people like MJ to talk to Peter about what it was like to have the powers he does for a little while -- is that Peter Parker is a remarkable guy. As one of the criminals mentions in the first story, it's pretty amazing that Peter hasn't used his powers to rob banks or hurt people. "Spider-Island" will hopefully be a good reminder of that, particularly for the people who love Peter and know his secret. (Also: I loved Spider-Cat!)
Spider-Island: Heroes for Hire #1: Of all the tie-in issues, so far, I think I like this one the most. I read "Heroes for Hire" #1 when it was included free in an "Avengers" (I believe) issue a few months ago, and I can't say I was particularly intrigued. I didn't see why it was so mysterious that Misty was Control. I mean, she was already a superhero. It wasn't like discovering that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. It's basically just discovering that a superhero also had another identity as a...superhero. In other words, it wasn't exactly as dramatic of a conceit as I felt like DnA wanted me to believe. That said, this issue rocked. The decision to focus on Misty was a wise one, giving us her view of the chaos of "Spider-Island." I've always liked Paladin and I like that DnA humanize him here, something I assume they also did in the original series. Moreover, this issue is more immersed in "Spider-Island" than some of the other tie-in issues have been, with Misty battling page after page of infected persons and mutated tarantulas. I mean, it lost a little in translation, given that, again, I'm not sure exactly what Misty's deal is as a result of the events of "Heroes for Hire." (Does everyone know she's Control or is that still a "mystery?") But, DnA still give you a compelling story here, conveying Misty's loneliness as a result of the chaos that we're seeing in this later part of "Spider-Island," where no one really knows who they can trust. Good stuff.
Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger #3: OK, I'm just going to say: I'm really disappointed with the way this mini-series ended. In the end, I have no idea what Spencer was trying to do here. Mr. Negative engineers a switch in Cloak and Dagger's powers, seemingly at the behest of D'Spayre. However, to my mind, a "dark" Dagger is much more likely to assassinate him than a "light" Dagger, so I'm not sure why Mr. Negative would agree to engineer such a switch, particularly when he acknowledges he can't do anything about the ultimate outcome of Tandy killing him. (So, why make a deal with the devil if the devil can't do anything about your situation?) Like Tandy said earlier in this mini-series, he actually seems like he's now responsible through his actions for making said outcome happen. (It's these sentences right here that pretty much sum up my dislike of destiny-changing storylines, a dislike almost as intense of my feelings on time-travel storylines.) Moreover, I'm not really sure why the switch had to happen. If I figured out the events correctly, Dagger was being overwhelmed by the Darkforce dimension, so Cloak had to help by, I don't know, giving her his darkness? It was extremely unclear to me, which sucks, since Spencer obviously intended the power switch to be the whole point of the mini-series. Plus, Spencer never really ties this story to "Spider-Island." I was wondering if we'd see a more obvious connection in this issue, given the tenuous connection it's had in the previous issues. Instead, it's mentioned briefly in passing, as an excuse for the damage that Cloak and Dagger's power switch caused. At the end of the day, I'm just left feeling confused. I'd buy a Cloak and Dagger regular series, but Spencer needs to do a better job keeping them grounded, as opposed to immersed in destiny-changing hocus-pocus like we see here. I really liked where Spencer was going when this mini-series started, but it's hard not to feel disappointed by its vague (and not in a fun way) conclusion.
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